The six additional weeks of winter that Punxsutawney Phil predicted is coming to an end and the spring season is fast approaching. Many of us associate spring with flowers blooming, April showers and for many of us the much dread "spring cleaning." But, for a group of community and business leaders from the Tri-Cities, the thought of rolling up their sleeves, getting out the rags, moving furniture and even opening up a few cans of paint has been eagerly anticipated for months.

On Friday, March 12, members of Leadership Fremont Class of 2010, a community leadership program of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce spent the day at the Child Abuse Listening, Interviewing and Coordination Center ("CALICO") in San Leandro with Mike Inouye and his crew from NBC Bay Area Proud to do what will be a little more than spring cleaning.

For their class project, Leadership Fremont unanimously chose to partner with CALICO to help them further their mission of providing "a supportive environment to interview children and facilitates a collaborative response to child abuse in which the needs of children take precedence." The project includes renovating one of the interview rooms so that it's more appropriate for teens, as they have unfortunately seen an increase in abuse in this age group. It was important for the class as part of this project to do the work themselves.

The completed room will be unveiled on Friday, April 9 as part of an event in observance of April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It will be held from 12 -2 p.m. with lunch and refreshments provided. For those interested in stopping by, please contact CALICO at 510-895-0702 or info@calicocenter.org.

CALICO was founded in 1997 to meet a growing need in communities throughout Alameda County to 1) stop and prevent further violence toward children under the age of eighteen, 2) reduce further trauma to the child that would result from being part of multiple investigations by coordinating the response of the investigative agencies such as law enforcement, prosecutors, social services, medical and mental health, etc. and 3) connecting abused children and their families with community-based support. It is still the only organization in the East Bay that provides this service. To learn more about CALICO, please visit www.calicocenter.org.

Communities in Alameda County have benefited greatly from CALICO's presence. In 2008-2009, CALICO aided 677 children, 68% who were female, 76% under 8 years of age with approximately 40% of these children from the Tri-City area. In addition, according to kidsdata.org, the rate of substantiated cases of child abuse in Alameda County in 2008 was 5 per 1,000, which was well below the state rate of 9.7 per 1,000. Although it's difficult to estimate the true impact of CALICO's presence in Alameda County, the rates in surrounding counties without such services were closer to the state rate.

To make a donation to CALICO, use one of the following methods (Please be sure to earmark your donation "Leadership Fremont"):

You may also donate toys, supplies and materials to CALICO. To see their current wish list, please visit: http://www.calicocenter.org/support-us/contribute.htm. Please contact Leadership Fremont if you'd like to donate a wish list item. We are happy to pick-up donations at your location and convenience.